


Thorns

by Beatonen



Category: RWBY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-10-05 14:56:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10310780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beatonen/pseuds/Beatonen
Summary: Blake recognized and followed the trail of her former mentor, Adam.Their reunion was nothing like a pleasant one.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this before volume 3 aired. I was kind of right.
> 
> Kind of.

She was jumping from tree to tree, the wind howling in her ears. She could feel every cracks and whimpers of every branch under her weight, but she kept light on her feet and jumped again, moving as fast as she could. When she looked forward, it was a sea of red leaves, swirling slowly as they fell. She shook her head promptly. Yes, she was going towards her favorite spot, back when Adam and her trained, or on the lazy days, just talked. It felt like a lifetime ago, now, but she knew that it was only a decade ago, in their childhood. She gritted her teeth.

“Adam, I swear, if you’re back there…” she muttered to herself, feeling her guts twist.

Finally, she jumped down on the ground, landing heavily on her feet but quickly rolled on her shoulder, crouching and taking Gambol Shroud, prepared. She glanced around quickly, feeling her heart pounding in her chest, trying to hear something. Her bow twitched slightly, standing straight and tall on her head, but she heard nothing abnormal, only the soft swishing of the wind in the leaves above her. Slowly, she stood, never letting her guard down. She stepped on the trail, light on her feet, looking around, until she passed a tree trunk, and there it was. Blake felt her heart miss a beat, and she swallowed, walking slightly faster. In front of her was a rock, the rock she used to sit on and read for hours, until Adam found her and used to playfully ground her. She smiled softly, lowering her sword again, and touched the stone, cold against her fingers. She let her hand slid on the surface, walking around it slowly, but suddenly she jerked her hand back, like she burned herself. On the middle of the flat part, there was a White Fang mask, the whiteness stark against the dark stone, red lines running all over it as if it was pumping blood.

“You came. I thought I taught you how to recognize an ambush.”

Blake spun around on her heels, her blade in front of her to parry an eventual attack. Which never came.

“Relax, it’s just me,” Adam said, walking from behind a tree to be seen.

He stood tall, his sword still sheathed but he carried it in his hand. He looked straight at her, and even with the mask, she could feel his eyes on her like cold daggers. Even though his voice was neutral, it wouldn’t be a pleasant reunion.

“Adam,” Blake breathed, gripping the handle of her sword slightly tighter. “What do you want?”

The tall man stepped closer, holding his hand in front of him, palm towards the sky, and he jerked his head back and barked a laugh.

“It’s not about what I want, Blake,” he said, letting his hands fall to his side, walking towards her slowly. “It’s about what _we_ want, and we want our best spy back.”

Too close, Blake thought. He’s too close. Still holding her sword in front of her, keeping her guard up, she started walking on the side, and they walked in circles slowly, keeping an eye on the other.

“I can’t go back, Adam. I can’t and you know it.”

He smiled, stopping in his track, tilting his head to the side while still looking at her.

“Like I said, Blake. It’s about what we want. Not what I want, and even less what you want.”

Blake frowned, narrowing her eyes, and lowered herself to dodge faster, if need be. The man saw it and he chucked under his breath.

“I’m not here to fight you, Blake,” he said, then proceeded his walking, Blake doing the same. “I’m giving you a choice. You come with me, and no harm is done.”

“And if I refuse?” Blake asked, barely above a whisper.

Even though he was wearing a mask, she could see his features hardening, his lips pinching in a thin, fine line. Amber eyes glanced down, at the tightening grip on the red handle of Adam’s sword, before looking up again and focusing on him.

“If you refuse, then you leave me no choice.”

His voice was low, threatening. The dark haired girl swallowed thickly, feeling her guts twisting again. Both of them stilled, staring at each other. A gust of wind brought some red leaves swirling in the air between them, and for a blinking second, she couldn’t see him, a red leaf passing in front of her eyes. But when it passed, he wasn’t in front of her. Her ears twitched back, hearing the swishing sound of Adam’s blade cutting thin air, and she jumped forward, rolling on her shoulder and spun around on her heels, one knee on the ground, her blade in front of her. He was standing right behind she was a moment ago, his arm extended, his blade, unsheathed, in his hand.

“Adam, please! I don’t want to fight you!” She pleaded.

He raised his head, looking in her direction.

“Why not?”

With that, he launched himself forward, reaching his hand, but he was too fast, even if she stepped backward and used her semblance to escape, his large hand caught her face, and knocked her on the ground.

“You call this a “fight”?” He snorted. “I thought we were playing chase.”

Blake coughed, trying to breathe after the shock had expulsed all air in her lungs.

“You’re not a monster, Adam,” Blake said with a raspy voice. “You’re not the monster they think you are.”

She saw his jaw clenching, and he bent down to grab her by the collar and lifted her until they were eye level.

“And what do you know about that, huh?” He murmured, and she could see his eyes between the small splits of his mask.

“You joined the White Fang to bring peace,” she remembered him. “You joined the White Fang because you were tired of fighting in the streets, because war was the reason we were poor and starving.”

She could see something dancing in his eyes, but he just held her tighter, higher. She wrapped her hands around his wrists, feeling her shirt cutting in her neck.

“You joined the White Fang to make a change, not to kill humans!”

“I _am_ making a change!” He roared, throwing her against the nearest tree trunk. “I’m killing those who think they’re better than us!”

“No, Adam,” she said quietly, smiling bitterly up at him. “You’re killing for power, and that’s all the White Fang is doing. Killing pointlessly.”

Adam’s face twisted in anger, and he punched her right in the face. The pain splashed across her face like paint thrown on a wall, and she blinked a few times, tasting blood in her mouth, her eyes filling with tears. He grabbed her by the collar again, straightening her, and pointed his index finger at her face, his hand shaking with contained fury.

“You will shut your mouth, Belladonna, or I’m going to rip off your tongue. Am I clear?”

She huffed, her head lolling to the side.

“What are you going to do? Throw me on your shoulder and bring me back to HQ? My team will track me. They’ll find me, Adam. Trust me, you’re not going to win if that happens,” she said confidently.

He raised his hand again and Blake closed her eyes in reflex, but when no pain was felt, she slowly cracked them open. He was looking at her with a wicked grin, a glint in his eyes that were unknown to Blake. Again, he pointed his finger at her face and leaned close, his face barely inches apart.

“I will break you, Blake,” he breathed, his finger sliding down her cheek to stop under her chin, raising her head sharply. “You will bow to me, just like everyone else does. We’ll start with this, would you?”

He lifted his hand to the top of Blake’s head, and the dark haired girl felt her breath quickening.

“Ada-”

“You know,” he said slowly, gently pulling on the bow tie to undone it, “in the wild, the leader of the pack can wound on of his disobeying follower, and it’s served as a lesson,” he observed, his fingers caressing the cat ears.

Blake frowned, trying to move her head to get out of reach, but he stilled her, knocking her head on the tree in the process. Her breathing was raged, she could feel her heart pounding right where Adam’s fingers were.

Time seemed to stop, for a second.

Then he twisted her ear, harshly. Blake yelped in pain and tried to punch him, to hit him, to make it stop, but he caught her hands and dug his elbow in her throat, choking her.

“I told you to shut up!” He roared.

She was wheezing, chocked coughs barely able to pass her lips, her eyes rolling, panicked, and he finally stepped back, leaving her ear. Blake fell to her side, trying to catch her breath, cupping her wounded ear. He must have used his nails because when she brought her hand back in front of her, it was covered in blood. A sob shook her body. He was a monster indeed, she thought, coughing, clutching at her throat. She looked back at him, and he had one knee on the ground, his blade across his lap, mumbling under his breath, head lowered. As she let her eyes trail on the ground to find Gambol Shroud, she heard, far away, something that only her faunus ears could pick up; a chaplet of curses said under their breath, branches breaking and heavy footfall. The faunus closed her eyes, trying to forgive herself for what she was about to do. Suddenly, she took a deep breath and straightened herself on her elbows.

-Yang! Yang, over here!

She screamed in direction of the woods, and she heard the sudden stop of the voice, then a rapid thumping growing louder, coming her way. But she also heard a deep, low growling right beside her, Adam pinching her wounded ear again and pulling on it until she stood, almost ripping it off the girl’s head. The pained cry Blake let out against her will was loud, and he punched her in the stomach. She fell to her knees, clutching her front, gaping, and he let something fall in front of her.

A bloody, fur covered piece of flesh. He had ripped a part of her ear.

“What are you trying to do?” Adam growled. “There’s no one here.”

He stepped in front of her, right on the bloody ear, crouched and pulled her hair to make her look up.

“You can scream all you want, Blake. We’re alone.”

He tilted his head on the side with a wicked smile, and her breath caught in her throat, fear paralysing her. The red-head opened his mouth to say something, but before a word could cross his lips, there was a fierce cry, branches breaking rapidly and Blake could smell smoke. She closed her eyes. Yang made it. She heard Adam growling again, the grip on her hair disappearing, leaving her stumbling. Straightening her head, she saw he was bending over his blade to take it back, but before he could reach it, Blake heard the typical sound of Ember Celica firing. A cloud of dust quickly rose, and by the time Yang closed the distance between them, Adam was nowhere to be seen, neither his sword.

“Blake!” The blonde fell to her knee beside her, a protective hand on her back while she glanced around quickly. “What happened? Are you okay? Oh my God, your ear…”

“Adam…” the faunus wheezed. “He wanted me to go back with him.”

She chuckled bitterly.

“I said no.”

Yang frowned, pushing the dark locks out of the faunus’s face, brushing her fingers over her bruised cheek and lips.

“I see,” she mumbled. “Let’s get you out of here. Can you walk? I’ll call Ruby.”

As Yang pulled her scroll to call Ruby, Blake leaned on the blonde’s shoulder, a strong arm wrapping around her waist. Her ear felt numb, her entire body sore, but the emotional pain sliced her in half. Having the proof that her mentor, her _friend_ , could do that to her… A sob surprised both girls, and Yang, who had just finished her call, hugged the faunus gently.

“You know,” the warm voice of the blonde was right in her good cat ear, “I don’t like the state you’re in, but… I’m glad you said no.”

Blake chocked a laugh, Yang pulling her close and nuzzling her hair, and the faunus let her tears roll down her cheeks, knowing her partner would always protect her. That her team would always protect her. She cried in Yang’s shoulder loudly, clutching at the blonde’s shirt like she was drowning, crying for the monster that was now the man who raised her, and the blonde petted her hair, rubbing up and down her back, everywhere she could reach to sooth her pain, mumbling words of comforts, but let Blake cry.

The faunus needed to.


End file.
